Is Direct Mail a Tool in your Fundraising Toolbox?

Jane B. Ford

With so much buzz about online fundraising and using social media to market your nonprofit, do you think that the cost of doing direct mail may not be worth the return on investment? If so, think again. According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, “direct mail consistently remains one of the most important and successful types of fundraising”. Although donations from online and email campaigns are gradually increasing, income from direct mail remains a solid source of support for many nonprofits.

When working with clients who are either just thinking about getting into the direct mail field or want to expand their reach, I suggest that they interview experienced companies that have a track record of helping nonprofits raise money through direct mail. I often hear that it costs too much to outsource this work. When this occurs, I have the nonprofit track the actual time it took to produce a recent fundraising letter in-house (including the time to back up any supporting research, the creating of important stories to include, the actual writing, the clean-up of the mailing lists, the graphic design and production of the letter and envelope, and the time it takes to put together the mailing and separate it to utilize the nonprofit mailing rate). Then I have them multiply the total time it took
by the hourly salaries of all individuals involved in the project to determine the cost of producing this one request letter.

Even when using a direct mail company, staff will still have to put time into preparing the ideas for the letter, making sure the mailing lists are accurate, and tracking the results. In most cases, however, the nonprofit will discover that it is cost-effective to use a direct mail company – and that the results exceed those they have seen from in-house letters. Of course, like any ongoing fundraising, the results may be slow at first but direct mail shouldn’t be a one-time effort. It is a fundraising tool that can be an integral, ongoing part of your overall fundraising plan.

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